Sam King is back with three selections on Thursday.
Racing in Britain is back in full swing following yesterday's protest against the government's planned tax raise on horse racing betting and I for one am raring to get stuck in, with Doncaster's St Leger meeting kicking off this afternoon.
The girls take center stage at Donny today, with the May Hill and Park Hill Stakes providing the feature Group 2 action.
It's no shock that the well-regarded Moon Target heads the betting for the May Hill (2.25) following her runner-up effort in the Group 3 Prestige Fillies' Stakes at Goodwood, but she looks short enough at the current prices and others are preferred from an each-way angle.
Rose Ghaiyyath looked an exciting prospect when winning on debut at Deauville four weeks ago and could be anything, but her handler Richard Hughes is 0-25 over the last fortnight, which is enough to sway me towards Pacific Mission.
Trained by Andrew Balding for leading connections Juddmonte, Pacific Mission ducked sharply right coming out of the stalls and was too green to do herself justice when sixth on debut over six furlongs at Ascot in July.
However, she looked like a changed filly with that initial run under her belt when stepping up to seven furlongs to record a dominant success second time out in a Kempton novice last month.
The form doesn't look anything special from that Kempton event, with the runner-up and third-place horses both beaten next time out, but it's interesting that top connections opt to pitch her into Group 2 company on the back of that, while stepping up to a mile on easier ground ought to bring out further improvement from this daughter of Lope De Vega.
The dead eight still remain, which is vital for each-way punters, and hopefully this unexposed filly can at least make the frame at a nice double-figure price.
1pt Each-way – Pacific Mission
Odds – 10/1
Earlier on the card, Jel Pepper looks to hold an outstanding chance at the weights in Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at 1.50.
The Oli Cole-trained juvenile sets the standard with his official rating of 100 and comes out best at the weights with Brussels, who holds the same mark, burdened with an extra 10lb this afternoon.
A compact son of Inns Of Court, Jel Pepper wasted little time in showcasing his talents when getting off the mark on easy ground at Newbury first time out, a performance that warranted connections pitching him straight into group company for the July Stakes at Newmarket.
It proved a worthy decision as Jel Pepper demonstrated that he was more than capable of mixing it with some of the best juveniles about by finishing a high-class third behind the exciting Zavareti, who has since gone on to land the Vintage Stakes, and the consistent Do Or Do Not, who subsequently placed third in the aforementioned Vintage and in the Gimcrack at York, while the reopposing Brussels was also unable to land a blow back in fourth off level.
His latest fourth-place finish in a valuable auction race at Naas can be marked up given that he fared much the best of those drawn low and I'd be disappointed if he wasn't capable of better.
Of his rivals, it is possible Brussels could improve for racing on this easier surface, but he'll need to take a big step forward to reverse the form of their Newmarket meeting at the weights and the 3/1 on offer looks more than fair for Jel Pepper to confirm to placings.
2pt Win – Jel Pepper
Odds – 3/1
Hopewell Rock catches the eye in the ten-furlong handicap at 3.35. George Boughey's yard are really beginning to find their stride and it's likely this well-regarded three-year-old will take a huge step forward from this satisfactory reappearance.
An impressive winner of his first two outings as a juvenile, George Boughey kept it no secret that this horse was clearly on that possessed bundles of ability. A setback kept him off the track for 319 days following his penalised success at Bath last season, so it was nice to see him back on course with a fair third-place finish on his handicap debut at Newbury 26 days ago.
Upped to ten furlongs for the first time, Hopewell Rock made some eye-catching headway to put himself into contention at the furlong marker before his lack of a recent run put paid to his chances, seeing him ultimately fade late on to finish back in fourth.
A son of New Bay, it's also likely ground conditions were a touch on the quick side at Newbury on his return to action. With a step forward expected for both his reappearance outing and a return to easier ground, George Boughey's unexposed three-year-old looks ready to resume winning ways off what might still prove a lenient mark.
1pt Win – Hopewell Rock
Odds – 3/1
